88 Call Center Statistics You Must Read: 2021 Data Analysis & Market Share

A new version of this article, featuring the latest data and statistics, is available. Check out our report on Call Center Software Statistics for 2022.

In the age of chats and social media, a call center is still key to managing customer queries. It’s the nearest experience to face-to-face engagement. But where before call centers are typically outsourced to providers for a large sum of money, today, the availability of cost-efficient call center software allows small businesses to tap into this channel.

They get the capabilities for interactive voice response (IVR), computer telephony integration (CTI), automatic call distributor (ACD), predictive dialer, and call analytics, among others, augmenting their help desk and customer support operations. This is but the latest in the continuous disruption of the industry, things that you need to keep abreast of whether you are a vendor, developer, user, or an industry observer.

The call center statistics we culled below on the state of the call center industry will be of great value. You’ll get to know key data points like call center market size, usage, and future scenarios in one convenient place.

Call Center Industry Statistics

The call center has been transformed by the way customers communicate with companies–through various digital and online channels. Most industry users prefer the term “contact center,” which aptly reflects its omnichannel capability. Whatever the name, the call center has become a unified hub of communication tools, allowing for a direct connection with customers on various channels, platforms, and devices. Call centers are also now switching to cloud-hosted solutions due to the many benefits such as faster deployment, easier implementation, greater flexibility and scalability, enhanced security, and efficient management of field agents. Here are the key findings of our call center market research.

Global Call Center Market Size and Market Share

• 66% – global call centers located in the US. (Statista, 2019)
• 13% – call centers with annual revenues of more than $25 billion. (Statista, 2019)
• 57.7% – call centers with customer interaction by phone. (Statista, 2019)
• The software market for call centers was worth $20.5 billion in 2020. (Grand View Research, 2021)
• The global call center market that includes contact centers, multimedia access centers, and customer interaction centers is predicted to peak at $496 billion by 2027, propelled by the changing needs of businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (StrategyR, 2020)
• In China, the world’s second-largest economy, the call center industry is anticipated to grow to $87.4 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 5.2%. (StrategyR, 2020)
• The cloud-based contact center market is forecast to reach $24.11 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 25%. (Market Research Future, 2020)
• The adoption rate of cloud-based contact centers was 2.2% in 2008. As of 2017, 62% of organizations have moved to a cloud-hosted call center software solution. (Talkdesk, 2019)
• Cloud contact centers are 27% cheaper and experience 35% less downtime than their on-premise counterparts. (Talkdesk, 2019)
• With up to 20% global call center market share, the Philippines has overtaken India to emerge as the world’s largest BPO destination and industry leader in contact center outsourcing. 60% of all US companies that use BPO services do so with Philippine-based offshore contact centers. (Entrepreneur, 2019)
• India-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is one of the leading call center service providers in the world. During its fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, the company generated approximately $21.45 billion in revenue. (StrategyR, 2021)
• In early 2014, Convergys Corporation acquired Stream Global Services. During that year, the revenue of the company increased by around $800 million over the previous fiscal year. In 2017, the company revenue decreased, reaching around $2.8 billion. (Businesswire, 2014; Convergys, 2018)

Global Call Centers Share by Segment (Deloitte, 2019)

• 26% – financial services 
• 24% – consumer services
• 13% – services sector
• 13% – technology, media, and telecommunications
• 11% – life sciences and healthcare
•   9% – energy, resources, and industrials
•   4% – government and public services

Locations of Customers Supported by Contact Centers (Deloitte,2019)

• 39% – Americas
• 31% – Asia
• 25% – Europe 
•   5% – Oceania

Revenue Distribution of Call Centers Worldwide (Deloitte, 2017)

• 24% – less than $250 million
•   9% – $250 million to less than $500 million
•   8% – $500 million to less than $1 billion
• 19% – $1 billion to less than $5 billion
• 19% – $5 billion to less than $15 billion
•   4% – 15 billion to less than $25 billion
• 13% – more than $25 billion
•   5% – unknown

Largest Call Centers in the US by Number of Employees (Site Selection Group, 2018)

• 47,298 – Allorica
• 47,152 – AT&T
• 40,832 – Blue Cross Blue Shield
• 40,622 – Wells Fargo
• 40,614 – Verizon
• 29,171 – Citigroup
• 28,874 – Conduent
• 28,144 – Bank of America
• 26,108 – JP Morgan Chase
• 25,941 – State Farm Insurance

The call center industry is big and will even become bigger as companies migrate their call center operations to the cloud, seeing the advantages of a SaaS solution with minimal maintenance and hardware requirements (a telephone, computer, and browser and you have a basic cloud call center setup). It’s also more affordable and can be scaled to handle larger call center operations when the time comes. This, even as many companies still find call center outsourcing profitable for small businesses.

Call Center Channels & Usage Statistics

How do customers contact businesses and vice-versa? With so many channels and devices available for communication, customers can easily connect with a company’s call center, customer support, and help desk units. On the other hand, businesses through their call center and customer support teams are able to respond quickly, if not in real-time, through phone and live chat or instant messaging in resolving customer issues and providing personalized service.

• 49% of consumers, on average, use three to five different communication channels to contact customer service. (Microsoft Dynamics 365, 2020)
• 41% of Americans have used landline phones to reach customer service. (Microsoft Dynamics 365, 2020)
• 61% of callers feel that an interactive voice response (IVR) system has a bad effect on the customer experience. (Small Business Trends, 2019)
• Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, two-thirds of customers are using video chat more than they did. (Vonage, 2020)
• 66% of both B2B and B2C companies use live chat for customer support. (Zoho, 2018)
• In January 2020, 7% of customers preferred to use live chat or in-app messaging. By August 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic still raging, the percentage of consumers who preferred to use live chat to contact customer support remained the same. (Vonage, 2020)
• The pandemic has changed consumers’ preference for communicating with businesses: 51% still preferred to use voice call to contact companies for customer service, 18% through email, and 11% via other means such as letters, social media posts, and push notifications. (Vonage, 2020)
• The use of Instagram to message businesses increased by 75% during the pandemic. Likewise, Facebook Messenger experienced a 20% increase while the app Line gained 20%. (Vonage, 2020)
• 9 out of 10 consumers want an omnichannel experience with seamless service between communication channels. (CX Today, 2019)

Easiest-to-Use Customer Service Channels in the US in 2019 (The Northridge Group, 2019)

• 65% – phone
• 63% – online chat
• 61% – email
• 53% – web self-service
• 52% – mobile app self-service
• 44% – text message
• 40% – live video chat
• 39% – social media

You have to know the channels and platforms customers use and prefer when reaching out to you so you can deliver personalized and prompt service. With call center software, you have a variety of communication tools to enable real-time interaction with customers. This way, you can show your customers that you care enough to respond to them in the most efficient manner regardless of what channel they use.

Most Popular Call Center Software

1. Zendesk. One of the leading help desk and call center platforms trusted by over 40,000 organizations worldwide including global call center companies. Read all about our thoughts on this platform in our Zendesk review.
2. Freshcaller. Freshcaller is a young, yet very promising call center and multi-level IVR solution that allows users to restructure and modernize their cloud-hosted support systems. Let us walk you through its features in our Freshcaller review.
3. RingCentral Contact Center. A robust communications system that helps businesses boost customer relationships. Learn more in our RingCentral Contact Center review.
4. Genesys PureCloud. Genesys PureCloud is a comprehensive contact center platform built to reinforce customer support efforts and optimize your workforce. Our Genesys PureCloud review can introduce you to more of its key features.
5. PhoneBurner. A power dialer and sales acceleration solution that greatly increases productivity over the phone without additional software. Here’s our PhoneBurner review to get you up to speed with its specs.

Call Center Customer Service Statistics

Call center and customer service functions are closely bonded together. After all, a call center provides the necessary tools required by customer service and support teams to respond to customers and reach out to them on whatever channel. This is part of a company’s goal of delivering quality and consistent service to improve customer experience, engagement, and satisfaction, which are vital KPIs and metrics for customer support teams. Call center data has shown the many positive effects of good customer service and the dire consequences of a bad one.

• When a customer’s problem is resolved on the first call, only 1% is likely to go to a competitor as compared to 15% when the issue is not addressed sufficiently. (VOIP-Info.org, 2020)
• 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds represent the global metric for service level in a call center, while the average speed to answer is around 28 seconds. (Cloudtalk, 2020)
• 95.7% of contact center professionals view customer satisfaction as the most important call center metric. (Call Centre Helper, 2021)
• 75% of consumers look forward to a consistent experience across multiple engagement channels–social media, mobile, online, in-person, or through the phone. 73% will likely change brands if they don’t get it. (Salesforce)
• 89% of customers are retained by companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement. (Invesp, 2019)
• In 2019, 89% of customer service professionals agree that customers now are more likely to share positive or negative experiences. That figure dropped by one percent in 2020. (HubSpot, 2020)
• When they have a service question, 90% of customers rate an “immediate” response as important or very important. 60% of them define “immediate” as 10 minutes or less. (HubSpot, 2020)
• 33% of Americans will consider switching companies after just one instance of poor customer service. (American Express, 2017)
• $75 billion are lost by businesses annually due to poor customer service. (Forbes, 2018)

Global call center satisfaction index, 2011–2020 (CFI Group, 2020)

• 2020 – Private 71% Government 64%
• 2019 – Private 68% Government 63%
• 2018 – Private 70% Government 68%
• 2017 – Private 68% Government 68%
• 2016 – Private 68% Government 67%
• 2015 – Private 72% Government 67%
• 2014 – Private 69% Government 63%
• 2013 – Private 77% Government 72%
• 2012 – Private 75% Government 69%
• 2011 – Private 76% Government 69%

What customers expect from customer service (Aspect, 2020)

• 56.14% – friendly customer service agents
• 54.29% – personalized customer support
• 51.60% – creative approaches to customer service
• 46.16% – reachable through preferred channels

Today’s consumers are more demanding and less patient when looking for answers to their issues. They will air out their disappointments with your service to others, and that is not good for business. It is even quite costly, as you’ve learned. Call centers follow certain benchmarks to ensure fast and efficient service, and call center solutions offer multi-channel capabilities to ensure consistency in the service you provide.

Future of Call Center Statistics

The rapid pace of technology is reshaping the way business and productivity tools are deployed and utilized. Call center software is no exception. Cloud-hosted solutions packaged as SaaS will become increasingly popular because of their affordability, scalability, and omnichannel capability. There is also the growing use of automation, artificial intelligence, and chatbots to streamline call center operations. Here’s what to expect.

• 76% of contact centers are planning to invest in artificial intelligence in the next two years. (Deloitte, 2019)
• 57% of companies are testing the use of AI in assisting customer service agents. (Deloitte, 2019)
• 13% of contact center companies have fully deployed AI for chat support. (Deloitte, 2019)
• 63% of contact center leaders agree that virtual assistants and chatbots make it easier for customers to have their issues resolved. (Business Wire, 2019)
• Despite bots and automation, conventional technologies like the telephone and email will account for 81.5% of the total contact center inbound interactions. (Call Centre Helper, 2020)
• 25% of contact centers have moved their systems to the cloud. Meanwhile, 30% that have not done so are actively working to move to the cloud in the next two years. (Deloitte, 2019)

Call center employees worry that virtual assistants, chatbots, and AI will take over their jobs. That is a scenario that is not about to happen overnight, even if companies are already taking the automation route. The call center industry will still need skilled workers that can make the right decisions, perform remote troubleshooting, and provide contextual and logical solutions. Besides, customers still want to hear a real human voice at the other end of the line.

Challenges Facing Modern Call Centers

Modern call centers face a range of challenges, despite advancements in technology. These challenges can hinder efficiency and customer satisfaction, so it’s important for businesses to address them proactively. Here are some of the most pressing issues:

• High Employee Turnover: Call centers often experience high turnover rates, which can be costly for businesses. The nature of the job, with its high-pressure environment and repetitive tasks, leads to burnout. This turnover also leads to additional recruitment and training costs.
• Staffing Shortages: Due to the high turnover, call centers struggle to maintain the ideal number of staff members. This issue is exacerbated during peak periods, leading to longer wait times for customers, decreased satisfaction, and increased stress for employees.
• Maintaining Consistent Quality Across Channels: Call centers now manage multiple communication channels, including phone, email, live chat, and social media. Ensuring consistent quality and delivering a seamless customer experience across all these platforms is a significant challenge, especially when different tools and processes are involved.
• Data Security Concerns: Call centers handle sensitive customer information, which makes them prime targets for cyberattacks. Protecting customer data and complying with data privacy regulations (like GDPR) adds another layer of complexity to operations.
• Balancing Efficiency and Personalization: As call centers adopt automation and AI-driven tools to improve efficiency, there’s a risk of losing the personal touch that customers expect. Finding the right balance between automation and human interaction remains a key challenge.

Leveraging Statistics to Optimize Your Call Center

What does our call center market analysis tell you? The figures are clear – call center is a booming industry, especially now when businesses realize the need for a more customer-centric approach to enhance customer engagement and interaction and, thus, improve the company’s bottom line. And with several channels available to you and your customers, our research underlines the need for your call center to have omnichannel capability. Our comparison of top 3 communications software can help you find the right solution that can serve as the backbone of your call center system.

It is our view that being informed on what call center software is and being aware of developments in the industry will help you determine the importance of having such a system for your business or if you already have it in place, how to further optimize your operation by taking note of the important statistics and leveraging the call center research that we shared here.

Key Insights

• Omnichannel Capability: Modern call centers, often referred to as contact centers, are equipped to handle multiple communication channels, enhancing customer interaction through various platforms and devices.
• Cloud-Based Solutions: The shift towards cloud-hosted call center solutions offers benefits like faster deployment, easier implementation, greater flexibility, and improved security. This transition is significant, with 62% of organizations moving to cloud-hosted solutions as of 2017.
• Market Growth: The global call center market is projected to reach $496 billion by 2027, driven by changing business needs and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cloud contact centers alone are expected to reach $24.11 billion by 2023.
• Geographic Distribution: The Philippines has emerged as the world’s largest BPO destination, holding up to 20% of the global call center market share, surpassing India.
• Technological Adoption: Automation, AI, and chatbots are increasingly integrated into call centers, with 76% of contact centers planning to invest in AI within the next two years. However, traditional technologies like phone and email remain dominant.
• Customer Preferences: Customers increasingly use multiple channels to contact customer service, with 49% using three to five different communication channels. There is a significant shift towards video chat, live chat, and social media messaging due to the pandemic.
• Customer Service Impact: Effective customer service significantly impacts customer retention, with 90% of customers expecting immediate responses and 73% willing to switch brands after poor service experiences.
• Economic Impact: Poor customer service results in substantial financial losses for businesses, estimated at $75 billion annually.

FAQ

1. What are the main benefits of cloud-hosted call center solutions? Cloud-hosted call center solutions offer faster deployment, easier implementation, greater flexibility and scalability, enhanced security, and more efficient management of field agents. They are also more cost-effective compared to on-premise solutions.
2. Why is the term ‘contact center’ preferred over ‘call center’? The term ‘contact center’ is preferred as it reflects the omnichannel capabilities of modern customer support centers, which handle communication across various platforms and devices, not just phone calls.
3. What is the projected growth of the global call center market? The global call center market, including contact centers, multimedia access centers, and customer interaction centers, is expected to reach $496 billion by 2027. The cloud-based contact center market is forecasted to grow to $24.11 billion by 2023.
4. How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted call center operations? The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of video chat and other digital communication channels in call centers. It has also highlighted the need for businesses to adapt to changing customer preferences and the benefits of remote and cloud-based solutions.
5. Which country holds the largest share in the global call center market? The Philippines has overtaken India to become the world’s largest BPO destination, holding up to 20% of the global call center market share.
6. What role does AI play in the future of call centers? AI is set to play a significant role in call centers, with many planning to invest in AI technologies for improving customer service through automation, virtual assistants, and chatbots. However, human agents remain essential for complex and context-specific customer interactions.
7. What are the most popular channels for customer service interactions? The most popular customer service channels include phone calls, live chat, email, social media, and mobile apps. Customers often use multiple channels, with 49% using three to five different methods to contact customer service.
8. How important is immediate response in customer service? Immediate response is crucial, with 90% of customers rating it as important or very important. A majority expect a response within 10 minutes, which underscores the need for efficient and responsive call center operations.

References:

1. American Express (2017, December 15). #WellActually, Americans Say Customer Service is Better Than Ever. American Express
2. Aspect (2020). Aspect Consumer Index 2020. Aspect
3. Businesswire (2019, May 1). Contact Center Leaders Confident in Artificial Intelligence’s (AI’s) Role in Delivering Exceptional Customer Experiences. Businesswire
4. Businesswire (2014, January 6). Convergys to Acquire Stream for $820 Million. Businesswire
5. Call Centre Helper (2020, December 11). 23 Contact Centre Predictions for 2019. Call Centre Helper
6. Call Centre Helper (2021, February 22). The Top 10 Most Important Call Centre Metrics. Call Centre Helper
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8. Chandwani, N. (2019, February 9). Philippines’ BPO Industry: In 2019 and Beyond. Entrepreneur
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24. Salesforce. Customer Expectations Hit All-Time Highs. Salesforce
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26. Talkdesk (2019, September 10). 7 Benefits of Moving Your Contact Center to the Cloud. Talkdesk
27. The Northridge Group (2019). State of Customer Service Experience 2019. The Northridge Group
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29. Vonage (2020, October). COVID-19 Reshapes the Global Customer Engagement Landscape. Vonage
30. White, K. (2018, August 21). 25 Largest Call Center Employers in the United States. Site Selection Group

By Astrid Eira

Astrid Eira is a resident B2B expert of FinancesOnline, focusing on the SaaS niche. She specializes in accounting and human resource management software, writing honest and straightforward reviews of some of the most popular systems around. Being a small business owner herself, Astrid uses her expertise to help educate business owners and entrepreneurs on how new technology can help them run their operations. She's an avid fan of the outdoors, where you'll find her when she's not crunching numbers or testing out new software.